KPJ1 - The Beginnings...
by LemurKat
Summary: Our intrepid young heroine gets her first Pokemon and begins her adventures.
1. Default Chapter

# To Catch a Vaporeon 

* * *

The little black, white and blue-grey creature stared up at me with eyes as golden as the sun.   
"What is it, Professor?" I asked, having never seen such as it before.   
"My grandson Gary brought it back from the great jungle," Professor Oak replied. "It calls itself Makimur, but apart from that I have only managed to find out a little about its behaviour. It is insatiably curious and easily distracted."   
"And its really the only one you can spare?" I know I was whining, but I wanted a decent Pokemon like my cousin Ash's Pikachu. This creature was cute though. It was currently fiddling with some contraption of the Professor's.   
"Yes," he replied, and then he noticed what the little critter was doing. "Makimur, stop that at once!"   
"Maaki, maki-murr," it replied sulkily, although it did put the device down.   
"Quite frankly," the Professor continued, "I would recommend that you wait – as much trouble as this fellow is, and as much as I would like to get it out of my office, I do not think it is a suitable first Pokemon. Even my grandson Gary could not train it, and he thinks himself the greatest Pokemon trainer ever."   
"I have to go back home tomorrow," I replied.   
"And they don't have trainers where you live?"   
"Yeah. But they don't know as much about Pokemon as you."   
The Professor smiled. Makimur was sitting by my foot, busily untying my shoe. It had wrapped its tail around my leg and looked up at me with adoring eyes.   
"Maki," it said, tilting its head on one side.   
I was instantly smitten. "I'll try it," I replied, scooping it up in my arms. It lay still for about five seconds then started playing with my hair.   
"Don't say I didn't warn you," the Professor stated. "Also, I should tell you, it doesn't like Pokeballs."   
"It doesn't?" I replied.   
"I'll show you." He removed a Pokeball from a shelf labelled "empty" and threw it at Makimur.   
The little creature caught the ball automatically and was immediately sucked in. I picked up the ball. "Looks fine to me," I said. There was a flash of light and Makimur leapt onto my shoulder from the ball.   
"Maki-mur," it muttered darkly, and began examining my ear.   
The Professor chuckled. "Good luck Kat, you're gonna need it."

* * *

Maki was small, smaller than most Pokemon I had seen. He was about a foot long from nose to tail tip, but half of that was tail. He had a black mask about his golden eyes and a yellow star on his forehead. Nobody knew what his abilities were or even what "type" of Pokemon he actually was. His behaviour was like that of a small child that had drunk too much coffee.

The walk home took a long time. Maki sat on my shoulder peacefully enough, happy just to watch the world go by. But occasionally something would attract his attention – a butterfly, a pretty flower, a hole that needed exploring. Then he would leap off my shoulder and investigate and I would have to call him back. The first night we camped in a small cabin owned by some friends of my parents. In the first hour or so, Maki had investigated the entire house, including the crawlspace, the attic and behind all the furniture and was setting about trying to work out how the television worked. He seemed to like pushing the buttons. My walking companion, whose name was Rowan, had an idea.   
"How about we try and train it?" He suggested. "I could try it against my Vulpix."   
"I don't know," I replied, "what if we hurt it? We don't even know if it will fight."   
"Oh, come on, Flame won't hurt it much, besides, I've got some healing balm. Don't ya want to know if it can fight at all?"   
I shrugged. "Let's see what Maki thinks."   
Maki sprang down to see why we were talking about him. He had plainly been munching on some of the flowers that had been left in a vase on the tv. The pollen was through his fur.   
"What do you think, Maki? Want to fight?"   
"Maaki, maki maki," he replied.   
"I think he more wants to play," I informed Rowan.   
"Well, come on Flame, let's play!" He brought out the ball which held his Vulpix and released her.   
"Vulpix," she said happily, rubbing her head up against Rowan's leg.   
Maki was fascinated, he jumped towards her and pulled one of her six tails. Flame whirled on him, teeth slashing.   
"Looks like they're gonna fight anyway," Rowan chuckled.   
"Go on Maki, do something special," I coaxed.   
Maki looked at me, sat down primly, and stared at the Vulpix.   
Flame paused. She had not been expecting this! "Vulpix?" She enquired.   
"Maki!" He replied, grooming his tail.   
Flame looked about in embarrassment, and then moved to groom her own foot.   
And Maki sprang at her, leaping on her back. "Maki!" He shrieked joyeously.   
The fox did not look impressed. "Vulpiix," she growled angrily, shaking him off, then went to sulk in the corner.   
Rowan was in stitches. "Did you see that?" He asked, unnecessarily. "Hah, he had her fooled."   
I had to share his mirth. "Yeah, look all cute and innocent and then attack, Maki certainly does have the right idea."   
"Maki," Maki agreed. Flame just sulked.

* * *

The next night we were approaching a lake. The map said it was called "Lake Eerie," although we did not know why. Rowan was hoping to see some water-type Pokemon, because so far our trip had been fairly uneventful. We both carried Pokeballs, in the hope of stumbling upon some exciting type of Pokemon we could capture. However, aside from the occasion Pidgey flock out foraging in the fields, all we had seen were Rattatas and a Nidoran, that had gotten away too fast for us to do anything about it.   
"Ya won't be wanting to camp by the lake," one old-timer, who was sitting on his front porch smoking a pipe whilst a Meowth purred contentedly from his lap, informed us. "It ain't a safe place anymore. There ain't no fish left in there no more – the Lake Eerie monster ate 'em all."   
You could almost see Rowan's eyes perk up. Maki's certainly did. "Lake Eerie monster?"   
"Yep, couple a days ago a woman was guttin' fish out beside the Lake shore, and suddenly a strange creature reared out o' the water afore her. She jumped back an' it swept ashore as a wave, pulling her fish an' everything into the water. She was lucky to get away just dampened and scared."   
"Swept ashore as a wave?" I asked. "What kind of Pokemon could that be?"   
"I dunno," the old man replied. "Anyways, if yer gonna be campin' down by the waterside, just keep an' eye out, ok?"   
"Oh, we certainly shall," Rowan interjected.   
I dragged him aside. "It could be dangerous," I hissed at him, "you can't be thinking that we can camp by the lakeside and capture it."   
His look told me everything. He thought we could.   
I sighed. "Ok, but if we get soaked, it's you who'll have to pay the dry-cleaning bill."

* * *

Beneath the moonlight, Lake Eerie was the picture of serenity. The moon's rays shone on the water, making them sparkle prettily. The waters were so calm and still, it was hard to believe that beneath them lived some kind of beast that had all the locals scared. A Pokemon that could turn into water, I certainly had never heard of such. Maki scampered along the beach, playing with a pretty piece of driftwood here, a lost feather there. He at least seemed at ease. He paused staring upwards, at Rowan, who was sitting in a tree, doing something complicated with a scrap of mat and a piece of string.   
"Maki," he stateed accusingly, pointing up at Rowan.   
I rolled my eyes. "You're not, tell me you're not! Stringing a piece of meat up in a tree to encourage the monster ashore is hardly going to give us a good sleep!"   
"I want to see it, ok?" He replied. "Is that too much to ask?"   
"Maki, maki!" Makimur agreed. He wanted to see it too. His curiosity was almost too much trouble.   
"We shall let all out Pokemon out tonight then," I stated, firmly. "At least then we can fight it off if need be."   
"Ok," Rowan replied, "Flame, Goldblaze, I chose you!" His Vulpix and Pidgeotto appeared, the former sniffing at Maki, the latter flapping up to perch next to him on the branch. Goldblaze was strong, and should be a fair match for any smaller water Pokemon. Maki appeared to be showing Flame a pretty stone he had found somewhere along the beach. Flame looked suitably unimpressed. Maki sulked.

Nothing had happened in a few hours, and I was starting to feel quite weary. Maki had already fallen asleep on my chest, his tufted ears tickling my chin, and Flame was curled up by the door. On its roost above the tent, I could hear Goldblaze snoring, or at least wheezing loudly.   
Suddenly there was a crashing sound. A splash.   
Instantly I bolted awake, startling Maki who leapt to his feet. Rowan snored on, content and unaware of the possible danger. I shook him into awakedness.   
"What, who, where am I?" He slurred.   
"It's here!" I whispered as loudly as I dared.   
That woke him up fully. "Well. What are we waiting for, let's catch it then!"

I stuck my head out of the tent to see, standing beneath the hanging piece of meat, a medium sized animal with a very long tail. It was a tealy blue colour, with a frill around its neck and a fish tail. It was not really what I would call a monster, although I had no idea what it was.   
"Goldblaze, go get it!" Rowan shouted beside me.   
There was a rustle of wings as the Pidgeotto lurched itself from the branch and descended on the water Pokemon. At Rowan's command, the creature had turned. A funnel of water spurted from its mouth, showering poor Goldblaze. Wings drenched, the Pidgeotto sank to the ground.   
"Use your whirlwind attack!" Rowan yelled. But Goldflash's wings were too sodden to flap with any speed.   
"It's no use," I shouted at him, "Goldflash is too wet to fight!"   
"Go Pokeball," Rowan shouted with a little too much, unnecessary, enthusiasm. The ball bounced off the creature's scaly body, seemingly with no effect.   
"Fool," I replied, "you've got to weaken it first!"   
"Oh yeah, go Flame!"   
Flame eagerly flamed at the Pokemon, a spray of fire erupting from her mouth and meeting the creature's return spray. Naturally, the water won. The fish-thing sprang forward, bringing its tail about and sending Flame tumbling into the lake. The Vulpix yelped.   
"Flame, return!" Rowan shouted, before anymore damage could be done to the poor fire fox.   
The fish-thing was plainly angry by now, and probably a little frightened. It hissed at us, "vaaa," and began to streak towards the water. Maki leapt in front of it to intercept it, without a single word of command from me. He sat there, tail tucked around his legs, golden eyes staring at the strange creature.   
The strange Pokemon hesitated, its body, which had been turning to water, hardening again to correct animal form. It stared at Maki, obviously puzzled. Then it opened its mouth, sending out another funnel of water.   
I almost could not bear to watch, but had to, for I had to call Maki back the moment he appeared to be ailing. Surely in this case, he would bear a Pokeball. The spray of water engulfed the place the Makimur had been standing, but he was there no more. I saw a flash as he leapt over the funnel, over the creature's long fish-tail, and landed on the shore front facing it.   
"Maki," he snarled. The creature turned to face him.   
And a golden light sprayed from the star on his forehead, a small star-shaped pointed which caught the other Pokemon in the face. It was bringing its tail about to swipe Maki, but the startlement of the light made it miss, Maki easily leaping aside. And then Maki leapt on its back, fastening his teeth into its ruff.   
"Vaapoor," it snarled, whirling about, unable to do anything. I drew out my Pokeball and took aim. The ball bounced into the creature's flank, and it was immediately sucked in, leaving a very puzzled, but very proud looking Makimur sitting on the shorefront.   
"Maki, maki!" He said happily, leaping into my arms as I went to collect the newly captured whatever-it-was.   
Rowan shook his head in astonishment. "Who would have thought?" He said, "you brought down something like that with something as small as Maki."   
"And untrained," I replied, grinning. It was the only time I had fought with him, and I hadn't even known what he could do. "Ya know," I added, "I'm sure Professor Oak will be interested in learning what this fellow can do, and he can identify this one for us. Do you think we should go back?"   
"Yeah," Rowan replied, "we can always catch the bus home later."   
"So what do we do with this anyway?" I asked, hefting the newly filled Pokeball in one hand.   
"It's yours, I guess," Rowan replied, "You and Maki caught it, if you can train him, you can certainly train it!"

And that, my friend, was how I became the proud companion of the only semi-trained Makimur in the world, and also the companion of the powerful, beautiful Vaporeon. Together, the three of us travelled the world, having many adventures upon the way. Perhaps one day, I shall share more with you.


	2. Seaside Capers

# Seaside Capers

Maki crouched on my shoulder muttering miserably to himself. It was pouring with rain and the poor wee grass Pokemon was soaked through, but he was still persistently refusing to go into a Pokeball. What if something interesting happened? He would miss it. In the puddles beside us, my Vaporeon, which I had named Ozmos as a joke (because she could move through water) frolicked in the puddles. She was having fun anyway! I had just returned from a visit to see Bill, the Eevee trainer, and he had been most interested in my Vaporeon. He said she was the fattest Vaporeon he had ever seen, and Ozmos really loved her food! As long as I kept her well fed, she behaved herself perfectly. It was the webbed feet that puzzled him the most though, for they were not normally seen in Vaporeons.   
Rowan stalked along beside me. "Don't you just wish the rain'd stop?" He muttered more to himself then anyone in particular.   
"Maki makimur!" Maki agreed emphatically.   
Vaporeon just shot him a evil look. She liked the rain!

"What's that?" Rowan shouted, pointing at something swimming through the multitude of puddles.   
I peered at it, "it seems to be some kind of fish Pokemon," I replied.   
"Mine!" Rowan shouted, claiming it. "We can't let it stay here," he added, when I gave him an evil look, "when the rain stops it'll dry up and die."   
I grinned evilly at him. "What are you going to use against it? Vulpix? You know Flame will really be terrible in this weather. And Goldflash doesn't like the rain neither."   
Rowan pushed back his matted brown curls. "You're right. Can I borrow your Vaporeon?"   
"Vap vap oreon!" Ozmos said with a grin – she plainly wanted to battle.   
"Ok," I replied, "but you tell her what to do, ok. Ozmos, listen to Rowan!"   
"Vap!" She agreed.   
Rowan put his hands on his hips. "Ozmos, use your water gun attack!"   
I gave him a puzzled look, water gun? It would probably have very little effect at all!   
"Horsseaa," the fish Pokemon brayed as it was bowled backwards by the force of the spray. There was obviously something wrong with it. It tried to regain its balance, but Maki, who had been sitting bored on my shoulder for too long, pounced on it.   
"Oh, Maki," Rowan whined.   
"Vapor!" Ozmos seemed annoyed.   
"Ok Maki, come here, Rowan catch the poor thing."   
Maki reluctantly returned to leap on my shoulder and began grooming himself, somewhat ineffectually.   
"Yeah, go Pokeball," Rowan seemed to have lost a lot of his enthusiasm. He threw the ball haphazardly, but managed to catch the Pokemon. It barely even struggled.   
"It is definitely not very healthy," I told him. "We better take it to a Pokecentre at the next town we come to.   
"Yeah." I wondered if Rowan even cared that he had caught it.

*

Time passed, as it does on a regular basis. Rowan got his Horsea healed, although there still seemed to be something strange about it. Nurse Joy seemed to think that it might have something to do with it being away from sea water for too long. We were contemplating a trip to the beach, when Rowan received a phone call from home.   
"I have to go home, Kat," he explained to me. "My father is ill and mother cannot cope on her own. I'm sorry but you'll have to continue your journeys without me."   
I hugged him. Rowan and I had been friends practically from birth, we had done everything together. His father had never been a healthy man, having some sort of rare ailment that made him ill all the time, and I knew my tousled-haired friend had to go home. Family were more important than friends, after all. "I'll miss you," I said. "Look, I'll give you this to remember me by," I handed him a Pokeball, it contained an Eevee I had been given by Bill. Although I was fond of Eevee, I could not bear to give away Maki or Ozmos and I might never see Rowan again.   
"You'll giving me your Eevee!" He was amazed. "I'll take it home and evolve it into a Jolteon, than it can help protect my family. Thanks!" He paused, looking downhearted (at this point, Maki was hugging his leg, saying farewell his way), "I have nothing to give you."   
"Maki maki maki murr," Maki explained that he did not need to repay us.   
"I couldn't bear to lose Flame and Goldflash anymore than you could give away Maki or Ozmos," he muttered.   
"Makimur maki maki maki!" The grass Pokemon tried, ineffectually, to remind him of the Horsea. It had been stored away, since the few times we'd fought with it, it had been beaten most easily.   
"Wait!" He exclaimed. "I know it's not much, but I do have something I could give you!" He ran into the nearest Pokecenter and came running out five minutes later carrying a Pokeball. "Here," he said, pushing it into my hands, "have my Horsea."   
"Thanks," I replied, a little unsure. It was not that I didn't appreciate the gift, just that I did not really think a Horsea was that necessary. I already had a water Pokemon and this one was not very healthy. I hugged him again.   
Rowan glanced at his wrist watch. "I've gotta go, my bus leaves in like fifteen minutes. I'm going to miss you, Kat." He looked as if he were about to cry.   
"I'm going to miss you too," I replied.   
"Maki!" Maki sounded quite upset.   
"Come on Ozmos, say "goodbye" to Rowan," I said tearfully, bringing out my Vaporeon. She stood on her hind legs and licked his hand.   
Rowan brought out Flame and Goldflash, and little Eevee, and the three rubbed heads with Maki and Ozmos. Then we said our farewells.

*

It was lonely on the road without Rowan, but I had to go to the sea so that Horsea could hopefully get better. At least I had Maki and Ozmos for company. I left the both of them out of their Pokeballs, because otherwise it would just be too lonely on the road. We did not have many problems, aside from the occasional scuffle with other trainers who wanted to prove their Pokemon were stronger than mine. Sometimes they won, but none knew what to make of my Makimur.   
And then we finally came to the seashore. Sitting on a piece of driftwood, staring out to sea, was a boy about my age. He had long, wild dark hair and was wearing a heavy trenchcoat that almost engulfed him. He was staring forlornly out to sea. Maki tried to go and investigate, but I called him back, shaking my head.   
"Don't disturb him," I hissed to the Makimur. Maki frowned at me. He wanted to know what was going on, as always. His anger evaporated after about ten seconds however, when a piece of shell caught his beady yellow eyes.   
"Come on, Ozmos, come on Maki," I called to them. "Let's get Horsea to water." Ozmos, who had been nibbling on a piece of kelp in the hope it might be edible, loped past me. Maki leapt onto my shoulder. He could cover amazing distances for someone so small.   
We reached the water and I released Horsea. It trilled happily and swam around. I looked about, wondering where Ozmos had got too and why she too wasn't in the water. But she had gone!

Nowhere could I see the Vaporeon, it was almost as if she had vanished off the face of the earth. Of course, Vaporeon were invisible in water, but I hadn't seen her enter the water and she was not answering my calls!   
"Maki!" The Makimur's voice suddenly penetrated my consciousness. He pointed at something. "Maki maki makk!"   
He was plainly distressed. "Horsea, return!" I called, not willing to leave the fish Pokemon behind. I had to find Vaporeon and I might need Horsea's help. Maki was pointing at a webbed footprint, one of Ozmos's.   
"Come on," I cried, "help me find Ozmos!" Maki leapt across the sand. The trail led into the trees. Maki paused to sniff at something, a piece of very dead fish.   
Of course, food! What else could lure Ozmos away without telling me! She loved her food and this fish must be so tasty for her! She must be around here somewhere. "Ozmos," I called, "come here now, you've got us all worried!"   
From somewhere I could hear the muffled sounds of Ozmos calling me.   
Suddenly the boy jumped down from the tree in front of me. "Your Vaporeon is gone," he shouted at me. "Hah, we've got 'im. Now, unless you give me the little guy with the ringed tail now, you'll never see your Vaporeon again!"   
"No! I cannot give you my Maki."   
"Maki maki MAKI!" The lemur Pokemon sprang to the ground.   
"Go Arcanine," the boy shouted. The huge striped dog landed on the ground, staring at the tiny grass Pokemon.   
Maki shrank back, but there was still determination in his eyes. A ray of light shot from the star on his forehead.   
"Maki, use your agility!" I yelled, knowing that there was not much he could do against a fire Pokemon. If he were hit…   
"Arcy, flamethrower attack!" The boy shouted and Arcanine flared.   
Even though Maki was dodging, the fire still caught him, sending him tumbling into the dirt, whimpering in pain. His attack seemed to have little effect on the Arcanine.   
There was only one thing I could do, for if I failed my Vaporeon was lost.   
"Go Horsea!" I just had to hope the little creature had recovered enough through its saltwater bath. Horsea leapt out enthusiastically. "Use your… do something!" I shouted, realising I had no idea what the little fish actually could do.   
Water bubbles spewed forth from Horsea's mouth. It met the incoming flame of the Arcanine and fought for a moment. But Arcanine was strong, stronger than any little, untrained Horsea, and the flame fought through the water, sending the Horsea sprawling backwards.   
"Don't give up, please don't give up!" I cried, tears of frustration streaming down my face. But Horsea appeared to be, it lay in the dirt, twisting as though in great pain.   
And suddenly it grew and changed. Fanning its now large fins it forced back the next blast of fire from Arcanine and then zig-zagged towards it, laving a trail in the dirt. I had never seen a water Pokemon swim through dirt before. Then it water gunned, with enough force to send the Arcanine stumbling back, weak.   
The boy paled. "Arcanine return," he shouted, "let's see if you're a match for my Cubone!"   
"Seaa-draa!" The draconial seahorse shrieked, spraying water at it.   
"Cu-bone, cubone-bone," the Cubone shouted, striking out with its bone, but Maki, recovered somewhat, leapt on it and bit it, just as the water sent it staggering backwards. The fight was over before it really began.   
"Hey, that's cheatin'!" The boy shouted. Maki turned to face him, sending a beam of light into his eyes. "Hey, I'm blinded!"   
I leapt over and grabbed him. "I've won," I said. "Where is my Vaporeon."   
"Va-por!" Cried Ozmos, hearing my voice. Maki scampered off.   
Seadra and Cubone were still fighting, but Seadra plainly had the upper hand.   
"Who are you?" I asked the boy. "Why did you steal my Pokemon?"   
"My-me names K-K-Kameron," he stuttered, "I work for-for team Rocket."   
"Oh really," I replied. "Well, you can stay away from my Vaporeon and my Maki."   
"I just w-wanted to catch the rarest Pokemon," he continued. "Puh-please don't hurt me."   
"I won't hurt you," I replied, "as long as my Pokemon are alright. You lured her with food didn't you?"   
He nodded mutely.   
Suddenly Maki came leaping back in, Ozmos hot on his tail. She sent a spray of water at Cubone, quickly ending the fight and turned to glare at Kameron.   
"Vapor-VaporeON!" She growled at him.   
He shuddered.   
I let him go. "Call in your Cubone and run," I replied, "and don't let me see you again."   
He nodded. "Cubone return." He then turned and ran through the bushes.   
"Are you ok Ozmos?" I asked. Ozmos licked my hand.   
"Va va por," she said, in a voice that she was fine, now.   
I walked through the trees to where she had been captured. There, is the bushes, stood a metal cage. How it had got there was anyone's guess. It was on wheels though. The door hung open, with an opened padlock hanging from it.   
"How did you open the padlock?" I asked Maki.   
He grinned at me knowingly, I guess it was something I'll never know.   
"Anyway, who feels like a swim?" I asked.   
"MaKImur!"   
"Vaporeon!"   
"SeaaDra!"   
They all agreed emphatically.


	3. To Free Butterfree

# To Free Butterfree 

Several months had passed and I was travelling to visit at Aunt by sea. I was not exceptionally happy at having to visit my ancient Aunt Maureen, and Maki did not seem overly cheered at the idea either. The guides on the ferry had already told him off six times for prodding into things he should not touch and he was currently sulking on my shoulder. I stood by the railing, watching the ferry whip over the waves and pondered my Aunt Maureen. She lived in a huge house, filled with wonderful antiques that I was not allowed to touch and beautiful rugs that I was forbidden to step on. The thought of letting Maki loose in a place like that sent a shiver down my spine. Dolfins, a beautiful water Pokemon frolicked cheerfully along behind the ferry.   
"Maaki!" Maki declared, greeting a girl that had just wandered up to stand beside me.   
"Hi," she said cheerfully, "my name's Amelia. I couldn't help noticing your Pokemon."   
"Noone can," I replied, "he makes himself noticed. Maki jumped onto her shoulder. "I'm Kataryna, but most people call me Kat. This is Maki, he's a Makimur."   
"Maki-murr," he purred happily. "Maki ma ki ki maki mur mur imur."   
Amelia grinned. "I think he wants to meet my Pokemon."   
Maki nodded. "Maki kimur imur ma mur."   
I shrugged. "Sometimes I wish I had a translator."   
"Don't we all. What type is he? I'm a Fire Trainer."   
"MAKI!"   
"He's grass type, so I guess he doesn't like that idea! My other Pokemon are water type though."   
"Cool. I'll show you one." She pulled out a Pokeball. "Come Growlithe."   
"Growl-lithe," the puppy Pokemon barked. Maki leapt onto my shoulder and hid beneath my hair.   
"We met an Arcanine a little while ago," I informed her. "He's not too happy about it."   
"Oh, sorry," Amelia blushed, "Growlithe return. Phoenix, I chose you." A bird only slightly bigger than a Pidgey and reddish-orange materialised, perching on the railing."   
"Phe nix nix," it cawed.   
"Ma maki ki ki?" Asked Maki.   
"What is that?" I asked.   
"It's a Phoenix. I found it when on a trip to see a live volcano. The Professor believes it might be a fledgling Moltres."   
"Wow, a Moltres. It'll be fun when that fellow evolves!"   
"Nix!" The Phoenix agreed.   
"That's Professor Oak, yes?" I asked.   
"The one and the same. He thinks there must be at least another fifty types of Pokemon that have never been discovered!"   
"Yeah. Well, keep an eye on that one, I've already had someone try to steal my Maki."   
"Really?"   
"Yeah," and I told her about Team Rocket.

* * *

The trip went faster now I had a friend. We were playing pool in the gamesroom (and trying to stop Maki stealing the balls and moving them) when a man in dark clothing and dark glasses wandered in.   
"Maki?!" Maki, who had been chewing the chalk, marched across the tail and stared at him. "Maki maki ki kimur?" He asked.   
The man looked at him, or at least the glasses did. "What do you want?" He asked.   
I turned to face him. "He's just curious about who you are," I informed him. "He's curious about everything, just ignore him."   
"Murr!" Maki hissed angrily.   
"Cute wee fellow, perhaps I could teach you something more about him. I study Pokemon and I'm sure I've read about something like him in my library."   
I glanced at Amelia. She gave me a look that plainly said, don't trust that man.   
"It's ok," I replied, as politely as possible. "I think I know enough about him as it is. I'm afraid I'm kind of busy at the moment."   
"Fair enough," he replied, "although if you knew more about him you could teach him some more skills, yes? Anyway," he pulled out a card and scrawled on it. "Here's my room number and my name, if you want to go through my texts, come see me." He handed me a piece of paper with "Nicholas Crumb – Pokemon Researcher and Trainer – Rm 442". And then he left.   
Amelia and I shared a look. "I don't trust him," she said. "Either he wants to try and lure you into his room alone or he wants to steal your Pokemon."   
"That's rather negative," I replied. But I also had my doubts.

We would only be staying on the ferry for another night, and I had a cabin mostly to myself and a couple of other, older girls. Conversation there tended to begin on boys and end on popular music, both topics which did not interest me in the slightest. Sure, boys were ok, but I did not see the need to talk about them for hours on end. About midnight, when the conversation had not changed much and I could not get to sleep, I decided to wander up to the deck, Maki was bored, and quite frankly, so was I. It might be nice to see the stars.   
I was almost to deck when a person talking up ahead made me stop. I recognised the voice immediately. It was that man that had talked to Amelia and I and had seemed so fascinated in Maki.   
"Yes, the shipment is fine… don't worry, they'll be on dock four at noon tomorrow… I've got twenty of them… yeah … found a kid today with something … I'll see what I can do. You can count on me, boss." I drew back. He was certainly up to no good! I quickly sneaked back down the hallway and went to find Amelia.

Amelia's room was in darkness, so I rapped loudly on the door.   
"Wha'" came a sleepy voice.   
"Makimur, maki mur," Maki said excitedly, in a loud whisper.   
"Amelia?" I hissed.   
"Sshh," she replied. "Don't you know what time it is?"   
"Come here," I ordered her.   
"Ok," she muttered, "but this better be important."   
I heard her climb out of bed and make her way to the doorway.   
"It's very important," I told her. "You know that Crumb guy?"   
"Yeah, the crumby one who tried to lure you into his room."   
"Yeah, him, I think he's doing something bad."   
"No kidding, there's definitely something wrong with him. What's he doing?"   
I explained what I'd overheard. "I think he wants to steal Maki," I added.   
"Doesn't everyone?"Amelia chuckled. "That means he'll want Phoenix too. Should we tell someone?"   
"Who'd believe a couple of kids?" I asked. "Look, he's in the hallway, having a conversation on a cellphone or something. That means he's not in his room. Maybe we should go look."   
"Oh puh-lease," Amelia scowled. "You want to break into someone's room and search it? You could get into a lot of trouble for that."   
"He'll get in a lot of trouble if he tries to steal Maki." I replied. "Besides, I can look after myself, I've got a vaporeon and a seadra."   
"You're serious!" Amelia sounded almost excited at the idea.   
"Of course I'm serious! Look, if we can't find anything incriminating in there, we get out, ok? What could go wrong?"   
"I'm not even going to go there!" Amelia replied. "Well. Ok…"

We stole down the hallway to room 442. There was darkness beneath the door.   
"What if he's back in there?" Amelia asked, being Miss Paranoid.   
I rapped lightly on the door. There was no sound beyond it. I tried the handle. It was locked. "Maki," I said, "do your stuff." I held the Lemur Pokemon up to the door and handed him a pin. It took him about two seconds to pick the lock.   
"Wow," Amelia seemed in awe, "what a great Pokemon."   
"And he learnt everything all by himself," I replied. "It's a great thing, curiosity."   
I eased open the door, listening for the sounds of breathing. Nothing but silence greeted me. I clicked on my torch, shading the beam with my hand. The bed was empty, and made, although the sheets were crinkled as though someone had been sitting on it.   
"Stay here, Amelia," I hissed to her, "if you hear anything, and I mean anything, tell me and I shall get out of here straight away."   
She nodded. "Can I lend you a Pokemon?"   
"I don't think fire on a boat is a good idea," I replied. "We'll save yours for an emergency." I stroked Maki on the head. He'd been sitting in the sun all day, he must be fully recharged. The star on his forehead almost seemed to glow.   
I squeezed through the door and shone the torch around the room. Closet, bed, chest of drawers, and suitcase. Well, the closet looked like a good place to start. I opened it. A few barren clothes hangers and a suit jacket looked back at me. Nothing else. Outside, I could hear Amelia's frightened breathing. I opened his suitcase, more clothing, a diary. A shirt caught my eye. It was a white shirt with a large red "R" drawn on it, circled. Aha! A Team Rocket shirt! He was definitely up to no good. I had just picked up the diary when I heard Maki whispering urgently "Maki maki!"   
He was under the bed, trying desperately to open a large suitcase. I kneeled beside him. It was locked.   
"Unlock it," I hissed at the Makimur. Maki was only too willing to oblige. As I shone my torch in there, I gasped. It was filled with Pokeballs! On top of them rested a piece of paper. On it was a list of Pokemon names with numbers beside them.   
"Someone's coming!" Came an urgent voice from outside the door.   
Grabbing a Pokeball, I took an empty Pokeball from my pocket and put it in the space, buried it and closed the suitcase (hearing it click locked), scooped up Maki and fled the room. The footsteps were quite a way away, but coming steadily closer. Closing the door behind us, we retreated as quietly as possible down the hallway before making a run for it. I hoped that Nicholas Crumb (if that was his real name) would think he had just forgotten to lock his door when he left. If he suspected anything…   
Amelia and I made our way to the deck, too hyped up on adrenaline to return to our rooms. Maki bounced eagerly on my shoulder. I showed her the ball I had stolen.   
"Let's see what's in it," I said excitedly, tossing it in the air, "go whomever you are!"   
"Freeeee," it warbled, flapping around my head.   
"Why, it's a Butterfree," Amelia stated, "is that rare?"   
I shrugged. "Well, Caterpies are as common as Pidgeys, but Butterfrees are somewhat rarer, I'm sure."   
"Butterfree," I called to it, "was that man your human?"   
"Butter…" it muttered, shaking its head. "But, but ter freeee freee ter ter butter freeeee."   
"I think its trying to tell us how it got there," Amelia suggested.   
Maki nodded. "Maaki maki mak mak kimur murrr."   
"I wish I could understand you both," I replied.   
Suddenly something occurred to Amelia. "My mother told me that there was a Pokemon Breeder on the ferry, a really famous one. Do you think he could understand Butterfree?"   
"Probably, but its one aee mee in the morning. I don't think he will appreciate us waking him up!"   
"Yeah, well maybe in the morning then. What if Nicholas finds us before then?"   
"He won't, he won't even know his Butterfree's been stolen until tomorrow when he feeds them, and even then he won't know it was us."   
Neither of us got much sleep that night, though.

I met Amelia before breakfast.   
"I asked my mother about the breeder," she informed me, "turns out he's an old family friend and he's having breakfast with us. I told her I wanted to ask him about Phoenix," she added shyly.   
"Cool," I replied. "I'll ask him about Maki. We try and drag him aside after breakfast right?"   
"Right!"

Dr Jonstone was actually a lot younger than we had expected, and good looking in a sort of mature way. He had wavy brownish red hair and bright green eyes. He listened carefully as I told him about how we had broken into room 442 and stolen a Butterfree.   
He scolded us, "that was a very stupid thing to do girls, not only was it illegal, but it was also very dangerous, especially if he is with Team Rocket. They seem to be getting more sly nowadays, no more stupid rhymes and pathetic mottos, just jump in and steal the Pokemon. Let's see this Butterfree."   
I handed him the ball and he released it, having a most involved conversation. When it was finished he nodded at us. "Luckily girls, you were right in this case, this man is with Team Rocket. The Butterfree was stolen from its owner, a young boy named Cameron or some such thing, and then packaged away. It seems to have been some months since it was captured. The man feeds them and very little else and the Butterfree wants nothing more than to go home to its boy."   
Cameron? That name sounded familiar, but I could not quite remember where from. "So what do we do now?"   
"We shall have to go and talk to the security on board the ferry. They will arrange things so that this Nicholas Crumb will be picked up at the dock and hopefully arrested. You did a naughty thing girls, but you also did a good thing. I'm sure you won't be blamed too much. It is a good thing, however, that we dock in about two hours."   
After that we went to talk to security. Amelia and I were scolded again, and the Security guard threatened to write and tell my parents that we had been breaking and entering, but they radioed the land Police and seemed proud of us in a silent way.

The dock got closer and we could see the faces of everyone watching and waving to the passengers.   
"There's Aunt Maureen!" I shouted, pointing her out to Maki.   
"Maki murr!" He shrieked joyously, jumping up and down.   
Amelia handed me a piece of paper. "This is my address and phone number," she said, "come and visit me whilst you're in town." I grinned at her.   
"I most certainly shall," I replied, handing her a similar piece of paper. "Aunt Maureen keeps the place like a museum, but come and visit if you dare."   
And then we were ashore.

The Security had warned Amelia and I that we should not hang around to watch the apprehension and that with the Butterfree and Dr Jonstone giving evidence we would not be required at all, so we missed on seeing the fun, but two days later (when I was trying to extract Maki from the priceless Grandfather Clock), the doorbell rang.   
"Hello there, Kat, is it?" Asked Officer Jenny.   
"That's me," I replied, slightly guiltily.   
"I've come to tell you that Nicholas and his accomplice have been arrested and will go to jail. However, that's not only why I'm here, I've been told to give you this." She handed me a Pokeball.   
"What is it?" I asked.   
"It's the Butterfree you liberated from the suitcase. Apparently, if it can't return to its first human, it wants to stay with you. If you do find a young lad by the name of Cameron, then perhaps you might like to return it to him. Otherwise," she shrugged. "You broke the law, but you helped us catch a smuggler, so I guess we can forgive you, as long as you don't do it again. Next time come to us first, even if it is midnight. We'll try and believe you." She grinned. "Duty calls," and with a wave, she was gone. I stared at the Pokeball in my hands.   
"Well Butterfree," I said to it, "it looks like you and I will be travelling for a while yet."   
"Maki!" Maki agreed.


	4. Water Works

# Waterworks

It was another bright and beautiful day and Maki and I were wandering down the main road of some miscellanious town. As per usual, Maki was unable to sit on my shoulder and was currently entertaining himself by running along the top of the fences that bordered peoples' property. Suddenly he paused and leapt from the top of the brick wall he was currently wandering over and onto my shoulder.   
He tugged insistently at my hair, as if I had not already noticed him. "Maki ki ki murr!" He said urgently.   
"What is it?" I queried.   
He leapt up on the top of the wall and beckoned to me. "Maki kimur mur."   
Feeling like a criminal, I clambered up after him. The wall was rough and I grazed my hands trying to climb over it. What I saw on the other side brought pain to my heart. It was a little Nidoran, chained to a post outside a shed. He stood there, head hanging. His legs were as thin as sticks and you could almost count his ribs from here. Maki jumped down and approached it cautiously. It growled at him.   
"Maki maki MAKI!" He shouted at me – telling me I had to do something. He jumped back up the fence. From here I could see that it was quite a nice garden, with a large pond and lots of plants. A large patch of ground about the size of a tennis court appeared to have suffered some kind of fire though.   
I knew I had to do something – I could hardly just leave it there, but I had already been reprimanded once for entering where I was not supposed to. Perhaps this time I should go and fetch the law. I was just pondering what I should do, when a voice came from below.   
"Hey, what do you think you're doin'?"   
"Maki," Maki hissed. I dropped down the other side of the wall, onto the footpath.   
It was a familiar looking boy about my age, with dark eyes and dark hair. Despite the hot day, he was wearing a large trenchcoat.   
I glared at him, "have you been following me?"   
"Of course not," he replied brashly. "Why are you climbing other people's walls?"   
"There is a Pokemon in trouble over there," I snapped at him, "not that I expect you to care. Why don't you just get out of here, scram?"   
He grinned at me, he had a cute, crooked grin, I found myself unwillingly noticing. "Bye, bye then, until we meet again," he waved and walked off along the road.   
I glanced at the house. I was by nature an impatient person, and running around and looking for the Police would take too much time. It would not hurt to look at the front of the house, would it?

A sign hung on the gate – "Fire and Ice Pokemon Breeding Centre" it proclaimed in faded script. A bush partly obscured the sign, it looked like it had been there a very long time. A Pokemon breeding centre then… well, at least I had a reason to go in.   
"Stay close to me," I whispered to Maki. "If anyone tries to grab you, Starblaze them." Starblaze was Maki's attack, it was not as strong as Solar Beam, although the method was the same. However, it tended to blind the target for several seconds.   
Maki nodded.   
Nervously, I rapped on the door. I could hear footsteps inside.   
The door swung open and a scrawny woman, who looked a little like a crow, stared down at me. "Yes?" She asked.   
"Hi," I said, shuffling nervously under her pale blue gaze. "My names Cathy and I read the sign on the gate. I haven't been in town long but I do have some water Pokemon and thought you might be able to help me train them." I was not about to tell her my real name. Call me paranoid, but she had a Nidoran tied up in her backyard!   
She smiled at me, the smile never reaching her eyes. "My husband bred Pokemon, trained them too, finest trainer in the town. But alas, he died some years ago. I still look after them, but I'm afraid I cannot be of much help."   
She seemed about to close the door. I could not let her throw me out yet, I hated admitting to defeat.   
"Look," I said. "Do you still fight Pokemon?"   
"On occasion," she replied. "I was once a master Pokemon trainer, but since marrying I settled down and helped breed them."   
"I don't have any fire Pokemon," I informed her, "but I do have a very interesting Vaporeon, perhaps we could have a little fight."   
She smiled. "I have not fought for a long time. I hope I am not too rusty at it." Her smile broadened. "Perhaps we could make it a little more… interesting?"   
"Yes?" I asked.   
"If I win, I get to chose one of your Pokemon to keep and if you win, you get one of mine."   
"Maakiiii!" The Makimur cautioned.   
I felt a lump in my throat. But here was a way I could get to save the Nidoran without causing any problems. "Ok," I replied, "but you can't chose Maki."   
"Is that what the little guy's called – he doesn't look like a fire or water type Pokemon anyway. Don't worry, he's safe. And, because you're the challenger, I'll let you choose the medium – water or grass?"   
I pondered for a moment. I had three Pokemon that could cope with water, but two that could not cope with fire, which she would have difficulty using on water. "Water," I replied.   
She nodded. "Come through here."   
She led me through a gate and into her back garden. As we made our way towards the path, I pointed to the Nidoran.   
"If you are a Fire and Ice trainer, how come you have a grass Pokemon?" I asked, all innocence.   
The lady frowned. "Sometimes we must put them up against different Pokemon types for the training. So we used to catch wild Pokemon on occasion and bring them back here for trials. This one was kept to guard the garden from unwelcome intruders."   
I bit my tongue before I asked the obvious, why is it chained up? It was chained up in front of a shed after all. Perhaps there was something important in the shed.   
"Wait here," she said, walking over to the shed. The Nidoran cowered back as she approached it, and unlocked the shed, coming out with five Pokeballs.   
"You are familiar with competition rules, yes?" She asked.   
I nodded. "We get three Pokemon each, first one to defeat the opponent's Pokemon wins?"   
"Indeed, Cathy," she led me towards the water field. It was a large pond, probably about the size of a tennis court with a deep pit in the centre third and shallower water at both ends. I was relieved – this meant that I may be able to use Maki as well.   
We took our positions at each end.   
"Because you got to chose the field, you also get to chose first Pokemon," she declared. I knew this really put me at a disadvantage, because I had no idea what she would chose. Better play it safe.   
"Ozmos, I chose you!" The vaporeon stood proudly on the rocks, waving her tail in the air.   
"Interesting vaporeon," the lady replied, "I see it has fins and webbed feet, most unusual. Go Wartortle!"   
Well, it could have been much worse.   
"Vaporeon, bubble!" I called.   
"Wartortle, dive in and try to grab it," she shouted. Wartortle dived down beneath the bubbles and into the centre third of the pond.   
"Keep watching!" I shouted. "When you see it, use your watergun, don't let it get out of the water!"   
Ozmos danced along the rocks. Suddenly the Wartortle lunged out behind her.   
"Behind you!" I shrieked.   
Ozmos whirled, spraying water as Wartortle tried to tackle her. The water knocked it back.   
"Quick, use your tail whip!" I shouted. "Knock it over before it can recover."   
"Wartortle, withdraw," she shouted.   
The turtle disappeared into its shell as Ozmos whipped her tail around, doing very little damage.   
"Now, bite!"   
The Wartortle lunged forward, clamping its teeth about Ozmos's tail. Ozmos squealed.   
"Don't give up," I shouted. "Bubble beam it!"   
But it was too late, Ozmos had fainted.   
"Return Ozmos," I replied, heart broken. "Go Razor!"   
My Seadra sprang at the wartortle.   
"Dragon Rage attack!" I shouted. And Razor went wild. His fins cut into the turtle's protective shell and he bubbled in its face. Very quickly, the Wartortle was recalled.   
"Go Dewgong," she shouted. The beautiful Sea Lion Pokemon dived into the water. "Aurora beam!"   
"Razor, use your agility!" I shouted. Razor avoided the beam of white light.   
"Tackle it!" I shouted.   
Razor dived at the Dewgong and wrapped his tail around it, dragging it under. What went on beneath the surface we could barely see, nothing but the tumultuous water and the bubbled floating to the surface. A moment later, it was over, Dewgong floated to the surface, unconscious. Razor sprang into the air, flapping his fins cheerfully. He almost seemed to fly.   
The lady was non-plussed. "Go Blastoise!"   
Blastoise, I felt my heart grow cold. She had a Blastoise and had kept it for last, she'd been toying with me, letting me get ahead… and now I was going to lose.   
The enormous tortoise stood there, "blaaast," it bellowed. Razor looked downhearted.   
"Don't give up," I shouted, wishing I had some kind of electric Pokemon. "Use your agility and attack it with your fins."   
"Sea-draaa!" Razor bellowed, flying straight at the enormous turtle Pokemon's chest.   
"Blastoise, swat the nuisance away," the lady shouted.   
Blastoise struck out at the Seadra with its huge arms. Seadra was still pummelling it with his fins, but was plainly losing the battle. I was about to withdrawal him, when Maki suddenly sprang from my shoulder.   
"Maaakiiiii!" He shouted and leapt across the rocks. He was so fast that the huge Blastoise could do nothing to stop him as he leapt up and into the gap where the Turtle Pokemon's legs erupted from the shell. He was small enough to do it.   
"Seadra, return!" I shouted quickly, saving Razor from further pain. "Maki, use your Starblaze."   
"Blastoise, withdrawal!" The lady shouted. She was plainly not used to a Pokemon getting inside the great creature's shell.   
Blastoise ignored her, he bellowed in pain, tried to hit himself in the shell and then slowly, gracefully, toppled over backwards with a great crash.   
"No, Blastoise!" She shouted. Maki popped his head out of the gap.   
"Maki mur?" He asked ("did I do good or what?"), he wormed out and leapt into my arms.   
"You did great," I replied. I looked at the lady. She was fuming.   
"You cheated!" She shouted. "You did not send the little thing out, it sent itself, before the other was withdrawn. Therefore, I win by default."   
I paled. Maki had cheated, after all.   
"So I guess, you owe me a vaporeon," she declared.   
My shoulders slumped. She was right, she had won by default. Maki had cheated. He had only been trying to help, but he had lost me my vaporeon. I held the ball out to her. "Look after her, please," I muttered.   
"No!" A voice shouted, and I saw the dark-haired kid jumping off the wall. "I saw the whole fight and I don't think she cheated. She was just about to call the Seadra back when Makimur went over there. At no time were both attacking the Blastoise at the same time!"   
"Who are you?" She asked, "what are you doing spying on my property?"   
He shrugged. "Me name's Kameron, miss. I'm a big Pokemon enthusiast and when I heard the fight going on, I just had to climb up on the fence and look. I'm sorry." He grinned. "You certainly have impressive Pokemon though."   
The charm seemed to work its way through to her. "Ok," she muttered, "which Pokemon do you want of mine?"   
Kameron looked at me hopefully, probably hoping I would take the Blastoise. I felt a little sorry for the woman though. Having her strongest Pokemon beaten by a tiny one.   
"I only want the Nidoran, madam," I replied.   
She gave me a disbelieving look. "You can chose from any of my Pokemon and you chose the scrawny one that won't fight and barely eats? You must be mad!"   
Kameron shot me a look of pure disgust.   
"Yes, that's the one I want."   
She shook her head in amazement. "You only had to ask for that one! You can have the damned thing. It refuses to eat, attacks my other Pokemon and makes a nuisance of itself. I would've let it go ages ago, only I didn't think it would survive on its own. Look," she smiled at me, warmly, for the first time, "I see you have the makings of a great trainer, but with only water and grass Pokemon you are at a disadvantage. As a symbol of my faith in your skills, I'll give you a Pokemon, a fire one." She handed me a ball from her belt. "This one is very young and almost entirely untrained, but I'm sure you'll manage." She grinned wryly.   
"I have nothing to give you in return," I muttered. I could not give away Razor and I had to hang onto the Butterfree, in case I found its original human. It was not mine to give away!   
She shrugged. "Just tell me where you found that strange vaporeon," she replied, "then perhaps I can make a journey there and evolve an eevee of my own."   
I gave her as precise directions as I could to Lake Eerie.   
"Now, catch your Nidoran," she replied, leaning down and unclipping its collar. "It's virtually wild, so you'll have to do this the proper way."   
The nidoran immediately made a dash for the shrubbery. It was not moving very fast.   
"Butterfree!" I shouted, "I chose you!"   
"Freeeee," it trilled.   
"Sleeping dust attack that Nidoran," I commanded and pointed.   
"Buuuttterrr freeeee!" It flapped after the Nidoran, fanning dust onto the creature. The Nidoran ran a few steps then fell over.   
"Go Pokeball!" I shouted, throwing the ball after it. The ball twitched once and then was still. I picked it up.   
"I doubt you'll be able to train it," she said. "But at the least, try and feed it up and set it free. I hate the condition it's got into, but there was nothing I could do about it. It just won't eat anything and has the nastiest temperament ever."   
"Where did you find it?" I asked.   
"That's the strange thing – it was wandering along the side of the road trailing a chain and broken post. I think it must have escaped form somewhere. I said to myself, Maria, you cannot just let the poor thing wander alone to be picked up by some kind of scavenger. So I brought it back here in the hope of trying it against my water Pokemon. But all it did was attack things and refuse to eat. I think it must have been mistreated in its old home and ran away. The one time I tried to fight with it, it poisoned a Flareon and then kept on attacking it after it had passed out. It took some emergency surgery to save the poor beast! After that I just kept it tied up until I could think of something else to do with it. Sorry you got it now?"   
I shook my head. "The poor thing just needs some love and attention," I replied. "I'll do the best I can."   
"Good luck to you. Um, your friend seems to be up to something…"   
I turned, hearing for the first time Butterfree's excited trilling. Kameron had picked up my Butterfree. At first I thought he was trying to steal it, he was with Team Rocket after all, but then I realised he seemed to recognise it. Suddenly everything fell into place. Had the Dr not said that Butterfree had belonged to someone named Cameron?   
"How come you had Dancer?" He turned to me, eyes narrowing. "She was stolen ages ago."   
"I liberated her, from a ferry, from someone in Team Rocket."   
"Team Rocket had my Butterfree?"   
I nodded. "Aren't you with Team Rocket? Why would they steal your Pokemon?"   
Kameron looked puzzled. "After I lost Dancer, a man in dark glasses came up to me on the street one day and told me that he knew who had stolen my Butterfree and if I helped him with a little task, he would help me get her back. After that I learnt about Team Rocket, who collected Pokemon and I figured that if anyone was stealing Pokemon, it might as well be me.   
"After the boss found out that I'd been beaten by you, he fired me and told me to never come back, so I just wandered. He took back the Arcanine so now I only had Cubone, and then I saw you walking through the town. I figured that if I could get Maki he might let me back into Team Rocket." He shook his head. "And now I find out they stole my Butterfree! I won't forgive them for that. From now on I will no longer work for Team Rocket but will oppose them at every turn." He paused.   
The lady was staring at us, puzzled. "We should be going now," I told her. "Thanks very much. I'll look after the Flareon well and I hope you get yourself a Vaporeon like mine."   
She smiled, "be sure to come and visit next time you're in town, let me know how the Nidoran is going!"   
"For sure," I replied. "Come on Kameron. You might as well come with me for a while, after all, it's a big world out there."   
Kameron smiled at me, somewhat relieved. "I've been lonely," he replied.   
"Goodbye, Maria," I called. "Maki, come here." Maki pulled his nose out of a flower. It was smeared with pollen.   
Together, Kameron and I wandered away from the house, whilst Maki sat on my shoulder watching Dancer frisk around my head. I wondered if I had made the right decision, but time would tell.


	5. Taming of the Spike

# Taming of the Spike

The small purple Nidoran pulled on his rope. "Nido-rannn," he growled.   
"You don't have a hope in Hades of taming him," Kameron commented, in a friendly enough fashion. He was just stating a fact I had been pondering myself.   
"Maki!" Maki jumped down in front of him (safely beyond chain reach, I noticed) and stared at the Nidoran. His golden eyes blazed. The Nidoran quirked its head at him in a puzzled way. Maki began grooming his tail. "Maki-maki-ki-ki-kimurr, maki maki-murrrr."   
Totally bewildered, the Nidoran sat back on its haunches. "Nido-nido-nidoran-ran-ran." He scratched behind his huge rabbit-like ear with one hoofed foot.   
"What's he doing?" Kameron asked.   
I shrugged. "I guess he's telling the Nidoran how do behave."   
The strange discussion continued, with both Maki and the Nidoran becoming more and more excited. Maki's eyes flashed gold again. He jumped back on my shoulder. "MaKI!"   
"Come on," Kameron said. "You've been dragging that thing along on a rope all day. Let's put him away and go and get something to eat. I'm famished."   
"You know I've got him on a rope to try and get him used to us," I replied. "If I let him off, he runs away and he poisoned that poor little Eevee, remember? I've got to stop him attacking other Pokemon on sight!"   
"He didn't attack Maki." Kameron interjected. "Besides, he's kind of embarrassing, why do you persist with him? We could just let it go somewhere."   
I stuck out my chin. Kameron obviously had yet too realise how stubborn I was. "Maki could charm the hindlegs off a Rapidash," I explained. "And why do I persist? Because I want to prove that just because a Pokemon has been treated badly, that it will act badly forever."   
The Nidoran stared up at me, its red eyes somewhere between madness and confusion. The poor thing was bewildered.   
"Have you found out why it is like it is?" Kameron asked. "No normal Pokemon would act like that."   
"I haven't a clue. Maki knows something, but I can't understand him properly yet, all I know is that it has something to do with fighting. And not normal, controlled fighting, but out of control fighting."   
Kameron shuddered. "Sounds nasty. No wonder the poor blighter is a little unstable." He bent down to face it. It looked at him in a puzzled fashion. "Why are you so wild, little guy?" He asked it.   
"Nido nido-rann," it growled in reply.   
"I think it feels humans are evil," he replied. "But I can't understand it that well. I'm just guessing."   
"It's a shame we don't have a translator," I replied. At that point, something happened.

"Prepare for chaos   
It never fails   
To protect the world from temptation   
To unite all people in humiliation   
To denounce the evils of mischief and love   
To extend our reach to the world's above   
Loki!   
Freya!   
Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of mind   
Surrender now, or prepare for flight   
Abra! Kadabra! – All right!" 

Before us stood two people, both older than us. One, the male, had long silver-white hair, sapphire blue eyes and a mischievous grin, the other, female, had rainbow coloured hair braided together. Her eyes were amber, and sparkled with something I could not quite describe… She was astonishingly attractive, I could see Kameron's eyes bulge out of his skull in a humorous cartoon manner.   
"We've come for your…" she glanced at Maki. Her voice was like honey, but less sticky. "…Little grey thing."   
"MAKI!" Maki shrieked.   
The blue eyed boy pulled out a Pokeball. "Go Kadabra!" He shouted.   
"Kadabraa," the scary psychic Pokemon said.   
Nidoran growled at it. Maki glared.   
"Kadabra, psyshock!"   
"Kadaabra," Kadabra waved his spoon. There was a bright flash, a bright flash behind my eyes. My head felt light, like a feather, and my knees felt weak, so weak. I crumpled to my knees.   
"Grab it Freya!" was the last words I heard before my brain went black.

I don't know how long it was before my world stopped dancing behind my eyes. Grimly, I plied them open. The bright light seemed to reach into my eyeballs and burn my retina. After a while though, pure sight returned. I was lying, sprawled out in the dirt. My arm hurt, it felt as if it were being crushed. Why? There was a Kameron lying on it. I moved my arm and he opened his eyes.   
"Did you get the license plate of the truck that hit me?" He moaned blearily.   
"They've got Maki!" I shrieked, "and all my Pokeballs!"   
That was enough to stir even the dead, if the dead loved their Pokemon enough. Kameron's hands went to his belt. "Mine too!" He shouted, staggering upright. "We've got to catch them!"   
"How?" They had left nothing but a trail in the dirt. And how could we get our Pokemon back? That Kadabra was tough!   
"Um," Kameron muttered, "they didn't get all our Pokemon…" He probbed the recumbent form of the Nidoran. "But I don't know what use he'll be."   
The Nidoran woke and scrambled to its feet with a snarl. I grabbed the rope before it made a break for it. I dropped on my knees in front of him.   
"They've stolen Maki," I explained to the snarling Nidoran. "He's your friend, isn't he?"   
"Nid, Nid-o," he snapped.   
"Do you think you could follow their trail?"   
"You're not really asking the Nidoran for help are you? You know it's mad!"   
"Shuddup," I muttered. "Nidoran, if you help us, we'll all be happy. I'll give you some special food and all."   
"Nido, nidoran ran." He started sniffing around the footprints, and then trotted off, following them, nose to the ground.   
"See," I said pointedly.   
Kameron shrugged and jogged after us.

The trail led to a van, hidden so well in the trees that if the Nidoran had not suddenly growled, deep down in its throat, we would not even have known it were there. I grabbed Kameron's arm and pointed.   
"You're Team Rocket," I commented. "What do you know about Loki and Freya?"   
"Not a lot," Kameron replied. "They are fairly experienced thieves and have certainly done taken more Pokemon than me. I've never caught one," he muttered. "They're probably trying to cage Maki right now," he continued. "And once they manage that, they'll drive off."   
"Not if I've got something to do with it," I said. "Nidoran, puncture the tyres with your horn."   
"Nido?" It looked at me as though I were mad. Clearly it would rather puncture something else with its horn. Preferably something sapient.   
Kameron rolled his eyes and drew a pocket knife from his pocket. He crept forth and slashed both the rear tyres.   
"Nido-nidorann!" The Nidoran suddenly shrieked and threw itself at the back of the van. Its hooves and horn clanged against the metal with a screeching noise and a clunk.   
I could hear muffled voices inside. "What was that?"   
"MaKI!"   
"Shuddup you little thing!"   
"Loki, go and have a look."   
"Why don't you?"   
"Ack, men."   
I removed the rope from the Nidoran's collar. "Go on Nidoran," I whispered, "do your stuff!"   
The door clicked as it was opened. I heard someone step out of the van. Beside my leg, the Nidoran tensed.   
"Go Nidorina, see what it is," I heard a feminine voice say.   
"Nido. Nido-rinna," it shriekd.   
"Nidoran!" The Nidoran bellowed.   
The large female Nidorina whirled around the corner, and met the much smaller Nidoran head on. The Nidoran was moving faster, but the Nidorina had more bulk and the diving male hit, scratched with his horn, and then was thrown backwards.   
"NIDO!" He screamed.   
"NIDO!" She screamed back, blood trickling from her shoulder. She reared up, preparing to crush him with her front hooves. Nidoran rolled aside, leaping to his feet as she staggered slightly from the blow.   
I beckoned to Kameron. We crept through the bushes closer to the van's door. The attractive woman was wandering towards the fight, somewhat cautiously.   
Kameron smiled slyly at me, he had that eyes bulging look on his face again. Suddenly he threw himself at Freya, knocking her to the ground. She glared at him.   
"Hey you're that little twerp, aren't you? The one that the boss fired because you were such a failure." She smiled. Kameron struggled with her, twisting her into a position so that she was face down whilst he crouched on her back.   
"You stole my Butterfree," he hissed. "You stole my Cubone. I don't like that. I don't like that one bit."   
Instead of hanging around to hear more, I wandered inside the door.   
"Did you deal with it, Freya?" Loki asked. He was sitting facing a birdcage, within which Maki crouched, looking almost despondent. Maki despised being confined.   
"It was just a pesky little Nidoran," I replied.   
"Oh, that's alright then," he said, and then something registered. Loki whirled around. "You!" He yelled.   
I smiled smugly. "Yep. Catch Maki!" I flicked a pin in the direction of the birdcage. Maki reached through the bars and caught it easily. "You can't steal my Pokemon and get away with it that easily," I said. "Why ever did you leave the Nidoran?"   
"Why would we want a stupid Nidoran?" He replied. "They're as common as Pidgeys. But this little guy…" He had turned when I had thrown the pin at Maki, but turned back when I spoke to him again. His bright blue eyes seemed to bore into my skull. There came a click from behind him.   
"Maki!" Maki shrieked, leaping from the cage and onto the table.   
Loki whirled, and went for the Pokeball at his belt. I could not let him release Kadabra again, the psychic Pokemon was too strong for us.   
"Maki, starblaze him now!" I shouted.   
The ray leapt from Maki's forehead and straight into Loki's eyes. He dropped the ball and staggered back. Knowing I did not have much time, I darted across the room to the shelf on which sat five Pokeballs. I grabbed as many of them as I could hold.   
"Go all of you!" I shouted.   
"Vapore-on!"   
"Cu-bone-bone!   
"Freeee!"   
"Seadraa!"   
"Flare!"   
"Maki-muRR!"   
Having regained his vision and dropped his Pokeball, Loki stumbled backwards as six Pokemon menaced him. Even Kadabra could not take out that many. He pushed past me and sprinted through the door.   
"Come on Freya," he panted, "let's get out of here, these kids are more trouble than they're worth!"   
Kameron rolled off her. She slapped him across the face. "Damned kids!" She muttered and chased after Loki.   
After a moment, Nidorina twisted free of Nidoran's grip on her heavily armoured throat and darted after them, calling "Nido, nidorina, rina!" ("Wait for me", is my guess). The Nidoran trotted after her a few steps then stopped and shook his head, and folded at the knees.   
"Nido." He muttered.   
"Nidoran return!" I cried, calling him into an empty Pokeball. I hoped the Nidorina had not hurt him too much, but she had probably poisoned him. If I didn't get him to a Pokecentre soon… I might lose him altogether.   
"Kameron," I called. "We have to go into town now! I need an antidote!"   
"Maki, maki-murr!" Maki called urgently, from back in the van. I hurried in there. He was trying to drag a bottle along in his paws. It was as big as he was. "Maki!"   
I took it off him and looked at the label. "Thank you Maki," I whispered, gratefully. "Nidoran, come on out."   
The Nidoran appeared on the table and rose its head weakly. "Nido," it groaned.   
I approached it with the bottle. "Now, I'm not going to hurt you," I said. "I'm going to make you better." I poured a bit of the antidote onto a spoon and put it in front of his mouth. "Come on Spike, have a drink. You can do it!" I don't know why I had suddenly chosen to give him a nickname, it just sort of happened. It seemed right, as though he had finally proven himself. I think it was the fact that I had named him that made him respond. His purple tongue flicked out and lapped up the antidote. He then closed his eyes again.   
"Maki," Maki said gently and bounced down beside him, licking his face gingerly.   
I turned and smiled at Kameron. He smiled back wryly.   
"Ok, I admit it, the Nidoran was worth training."   
I allowed myself a smug smile.


End file.
